More Than Just a Dream
by MageofMind
Summary: She wasn't sure where she She was floating in the vast expanses of the furthest ring, all She didn't know where she was and she didn't There is only so much you can care about when you've lost everyone you ever cared WARNING: major character death (but its homestuck so it's temporary)


She wasn't sure where she was. She was floating in the vast expanses of the furthest ring, all alone. She didn't know where she was and she didn't care. There is only so much you can care about when you've lost everyone you ever cared about.

Ruby was once a happy person, even if she was bad with people. It was hard for her to start a conversation, and she only found something to relate to in her weapon. But now she would have given anything for anyone to be with her.

She remembered it so vividly, her friends, Weiss, Blake, and her sister Yang all lying in pools of their own blood, the dark figure resembling a Beowolf standing over them, the realization she was all alone, the realization that her friends were dead and she was never going to see them again.

Why, oh why didn't she do anything? She'd been there. She could have saved them.

_She didn't save them._

Was it that she didn't, or that she couldn't?

The red robes hung loosely off her small frame, a constant reminder that she couldn't die and rejoin her friends, wherever it is they'd ended up.

The darkness of space was never ending. At least, that's how it seemed. Ruby closed her eyes tightly, attempting to think of something happy. She ended up thinking of her friends.

_It was a bright day at Beacon. Everyone was either taking classes or skipping them. A group known as RWBY was having a picnic. The reasoning being why not? Ruby was eating as much junkfood as she could fit into her mouth, Blake was reading under a shady tree, and Yang was talking with Weiss._

_"I just don't get why you couldn't just dye your hair. White is a boring color." Yang was saying._

_"Yang, for the last time, I'm not dying my hair." An increasingly annoyed Weiss was saying. _

_"But why noooooooooot?" _

_"Because… I don't want to." Yang let out an indignant huff, not saying any more. Ruby had ended her feast of anything she could lay her hands on in favor of laughing as hard as humanly possible. Weiss was obviously annoyed that the young girl was laughing at her, so she devised a plan to get back at her. _

_Picking up Myrtenaster, Weiss activated one of its abilities and propelled Ruby into the air, along with all the food she'd been eating. This resulted in an angry but giggling Ruby, a similar Yang, and an impassive Blake. _

The memory abruptly ended, Ruby opening her eyes to find herself in a green meadow under a tree. Someone was next to her, and she turned her head to see Weiss. But Weiss was dead, wasn't she?

Ruby reaches over to Weiss, shaking her. The heiress jolts awake, apparently having been dozing off. Ruby almost had tears in her eyes, but something was stopping her. This wasn't Weiss. Something was wrong, Ruby just didn't know what.

It was her eyes. In place of the pale blue irises that would normally be there, Weiss's eyes were completely white.

"Ruby!" Weiss exclaimed, lunging over and hugging her. That wasn't right. Weiss had never done anything like that before. "It's so good to see you!"

"W-Weiss?"

"Yeah, that's me!" She replied, with a bright smile.

"But… you died." Ruby didn't feel like sugar coating it, this imposter that dared take the name of her friend didn't deserve it. But… if this was really Weiss, could that mean she was still alive?

"Yeah, I did! But don't worry! I'm perfectly happy now, it's fantastic in the dreambubbles!" The smile was still on her face, looking eerie and unnatural now. The warm sunlight was harsher than she remembered, the _thing _in front of her most definitely _not _Weiss.

Ruby scrambled to her feet, something grabbing her and making her crash right back to the ground. Weiss's hand was gripping her leg, almost clawing into her skin. "You're not Weiss." She whispered, the thing's smile getting even wider.

"Oh, but of course I am! You should know, you just stood by and watched me die!" Ruby pulled out Crescent Rose, getting ready to get away from the thing at all costs. But, before she could so anything, it disappeared, replaced by her team. They all had the same eyes, but there was something about them that told Ruby they were real.

"Ruby! Are you ok? Are you hurt?" Yang asked, rushing over and hugging her. Stunned, Ruby could only manage one thing.

"What was that?"

"Well, were we are is called the Dreambubbles. It's where memories are kept and ghosts are. But there's a thing here called a corrupt. It is a ghost, more of a memory, that's been dead too long, and has forgotten how they used to be." Explains Blake, looking at Ruby intently, making sure she was fine.

"Oh." That made sense. But… wait. "You… you guys are still dead aren't you?"

"Unfortunately yes," Weiss said, her trademark frown solidifying the fact that she was Weiss, dead or not. "But we've been here a while and we've thought of a plan to make it so we won't be so dead. You see Ruby, you are what is called a Time player. That means you are the most competent at time travel. So what we want you to do is go to a different timeline and make sure that this doesn't happen there."

"So you're saying there's some way I can save you?" she asks, hope rising in her chest. She could do it, she could save her friends. They didn't have to die.

"Not us, exactly, an alternate us," Blake explained.

"Isn't there some way I can save you?" Ruby asks. She can feel tears prickling behind her eyes. She couldn't just leave her friends. She couldn't leave them dead. No way, in no timeline. It couldn't happen.

"No, not unless you want us to die later, we're destined to die in this timeline." Weiss explained, her face a mixture of impassiveness and regret. "Look, Ruby, you have to do this. If you don't do it, we'll die in every reality, wouldn't you rather have your friends happy and together in some way then not at all?"

"I… I guess. But you guys are my friends. Anyone else would just be a poor copy. We've been through so much, can't I do _something?"_

"Ruby, I love you and you're my sister, but you have to do this. We'll be fine, we have each other. You're still alive, you can make a difference. You can save us. We're already dead, there's nothing you can do for us." Yang squeezed her tightly. "We have to leave. Go or not, we've done all we can for you. Just remember that we love you, and we won't ever forget our Red Rose." Yang started walking away. _Her sister was leaving._

"But… Yang… I don't want to leave you-"

"Ruby, you're not leaving us. We understand. This was our idea and we're fine with it. Don't worry about us." Blake was leaving as well, Weiss the only one still there. She sat beside Ruby, opening her mouth for a lecture.

"Weiss, could you close your eyes?" Ruby whispered. Weiss looked at her in surprise.

"Why?"

"Because if they're closed, I can pretend you're still alive. That we never played that game." Weiss said nothing, only leaned back and closed her eyes. It was there that Ruby broke, next to a friend that she wished was alive in a familiar meadow. She grabbed a clump of grass, large, wet tears flowing down her cheeks.

She was alone, Weiss having left. She grabbed Crescent Rose, her only friend that remained, and spun the gear that had been added to her weapon. Everything had changed so much. She'd lost her friends, herself, her life, and all hopes of a painless life.

She felt a wind rush past her and she found herself in Yang's room. Yang was there, alive, her eyes a bright purple, not a dull white. Ruby, cheeks still wet, knew deep down she wasn't the _real _Ruby Rose anymore.


End file.
